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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: You're talking about the act of listening, and experiences posted by Sordidman on January 22, 2015 at 19:51:32:
But who said I was telling people that they're imagining things? I didn't say anything to that effect.
I do believe that we are all subject to confirmation bias in our listening and so I always try to back up my own subjective observations with independent confirmation, on the principle that if a disinterested party hears the same thing I do it's probably real.
Also, you seem to assume that I'm someone without experience, or someone who doesn't hear subtle differences in gear. Neither is true. Not by a long shot.
Nor did I say or suggest that all cables sound the same.
So what do I believe?
- That some people can hear subtle differences in audio gear and others merely believe they can. See forex when John Atkinson and another Stereophile reviewer were able to hear differences in a cable AB test while most others who tried couldn't reliably distinguish between the two cables. Experience and training mean a lot.
- That we're all subject to confirmation bias and that the first step to overcoming it is recognizing and admitting that we have it, that our perceptions can be and are altered by our expectations. If one isn't aware of this in one's own listening it isn't reliable. When I think I hear a subtle effect, I always seek an unprompted second opinion from someone who doesn't know audio but does know the sound of live music. Usually it verifies my own, but sometimes I'm caught in wishful thinking.
- That cables can make a difference to the sound or not, depending on the cable and the rig. This has been known since Pupin invented the transmission line!
Years ago, I was given the job of developing protocols for lead dress in the equipment racks at a atudio facility, and spent some time experimenting and measuring signals with s a spectrum analyzer. Watching EMI come and go as you move a cable a few inches or alter its angle is an eye opener. Far from making me a skeptic about the importance of proper cable design, it made me more of a believer. It was immediately obvious, for example, that the power cords on audio and video gear should be shielded! Yet we didn't see shielded power cords until many years later.
It also demonstrated, dramatically, the importance of lead dress. We all know the rules -- keep cables separate, cross at right angles, etc. But do we always follow them?
- That cables are very simple electrical devices and that only a handful of mechanisms influence the sound, and that these are well known.
- That there is a lot of snake oil in the cable business, engineering overkill that doesn't affect the sound but is used to convince people to pay exorbitant prices.
- That cable markups are very high and that you shouldn't waste money on esoteric ones because once you get the basics -- shielding, grounding, LRC, suppression of microphonics, and good connectors -- they don't make a difference.
- That some audiophiles and reviewers have used cables for tone controls to make up for flaws in equipment and recordings. It is of course possible to alter tonal balance with cables -- there's no black magic involved, the effects of changing cable impedance can and have been measured. But I think swapping out cables is a clumsy, expensive and time-consuming way to address these problems.
- That at the prices that are typically charged, putting the same money into another piece of gear -- speakers, amp, DAC, what have you -- will yield more significant results.
Just my opinion, of course, based on what I've seen and experienced over the years. As such it's always subject to revision if and when new information comes in. I think frequently this becomes an emotional debate between objectivists and subjectivists, and people start disagreeing even when they aren't in disagreement! Whereas my personal approach is more one of curiosity -- can you hear this, am I really hearing this, what is causing it from an engineering perspective, is there a cheaper way to do it.
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Follow Ups
- RE: You're talking about the act of listening, and experiences - josh358 07:31:34 01/23/15 (6)
- Nicely put!... - Steve O 13:08:28 01/23/15 (1)
- RE: Nicely put!... - josh358 19:40:54 01/25/15 (0)
- I mostly agree with what you wrote: FWIW, and... - Sordidman 10:21:19 01/23/15 (1)
- RE: I mostly agree with what you wrote: FWIW, and... - josh358 12:38:23 01/23/15 (0)
- Confirmation bias, and maybe another thing too.. - genungo 08:55:16 01/23/15 (1)
- RE: Confirmation bias, and maybe another thing too.. - josh358 09:42:13 01/23/15 (0)
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